Vacuum Cleaner Had an Unserviceable Filter

Recently our vacuum stopped working as well as it used to. Granted, we track in dirt from the garage, and have little kids and a dog running around; but the vacuum should still be able to do its job.

I started the investigation with my first gut feeling -- the belt was loose, or maybe the scrubber was jammed with hair and carpet fibers. The belt checked out fine and I removed a Persian rug's worth of thread and hair from the roller. Next, the filter was replaced and everything washed out of the bag/inlet area. Nothing worked -- the vacuum was just not pulling as hard as it did when it was new.

So, determined to not spend money on a new vacuum, I decided to go all mechanical engineer on the beast. I was suspecting loose clearances in the vacuum’s centrifugal pump area, clogged internal lines, or some sign of motor damage/overheating that could be lowering shaft RPM. What I found made me want to kick someone.

The hunt started with the removal of about 18,000 Torx screws, scattered across the seven continents of the giant extrusion known as the back of my vacuum. I only ended up breaking one tab that was sneakily hidden under the cord wrapping. I certainly drive cars that have more self-inflicted damage than that. Accessories, hoses, pivots, cup holders, all of it had to come off before I could get far enough in to find the vacuum itself.

Finally, the heart of the machine slumped out onto the bench. I worked the shaft back and forth, nothing seemed too loose or tight. No debris was filled in the chamber or inlet of the pump. I even used my air compressor to spin the pump over for a second -- no grinding or much resistance to movement at all. My problem didn’t seem to be coming from this end, and I knew the entire filter and upper hose assembly were clean.

OK, so the air can get into the vacuum without much problem -- could it be having trouble getting it out? The design seemed smart -- the outlet of the pump wraps around the motor windings to cool it with outlet air. A thin foam filter lays around that assembly and then out through openings. Then, I noticed something covering the outlet openings. It was a dense, felt-like material and was completely clogged with dirt and debris. The felt was certainly much more dense than any of the filtering elements in the system, and was about 1/16-inch thick. The pressure drop had to be pretty significant compared to the rest of the system. I started washing it, planning on putting the piece back in and seeing if my problem was solved. I got to thinking; this is only going to happen again as the dust builds up from day-to-day use. So instead, I left the felt out and reassembled the machine. It is back to acting like new and might even have a little more power now.

The moral of the story? Try not to place unserviceable filters in a device that moves lots of dirty air. In this case the “filter” was almost more of a safety element, as it kept small things (paperclips, pennies, forks) from stabbing directly into the plastic slots on the front of the vacuum and into the motor windings.

This concern could have been alleviated by designing the slots in a waffle pattern, instead of long, narrow channels. If a filter on the outlet was really necessary (as I’ve had vacuums with a HEPA filter in this location) try to make it replaceable. Of course, the whole design could very well be a wise marketing move to make this a vacuum that only works for a few years and then ends up in the trash.

Do you remember some of the older, all-metal vacuums? These were around in the day when vacuum repair was a “thing” and not just what frustrated engineers might do in their time off. Hopefully this story can help us all feel a crack on the knuckles the next time we’re thinking of hiding something that should be serviceable, deep down in a machine.

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Unfortunately that is probably a valid observation. We are seeing more and more products that were once user-serviceable but no longer. The mentality of making a quality product that lasts and is serviceable has sadly fallen to the throw-away marketing strategy that guarantees repeat business which may very well include a non-replaceable filter strategically placed to limit the lifetime of the product.

One item that drives all design reviews in applicance manufacturing is, how much does it cost? The only way to keep your product on the shelves of Bestbuy or whoever is to be a dollar cheaper than your competitor, and one very effective way of reducing manufacturing cost is to design for assembly, not dis-assembly. Sure, there are customers out there who are willing to pay for a quality product, but they are the minority - ask any salseman - there aren't enough of them to keep the cash flowing.

My father taught me, always ask which is the cheapest model in the shop, and never buy that one.

Very true Batter, I used to design appliance controls and nearly all decisions were driven by cost. Months were spent engineering solutions that sometimes saved fractions of pennies. Don't get me wrong, we always met the specification, but by no measurable margin. The product had to just barely work..... every time.

Good job tracking down the problem and fixing it. Crazy how difficult some things are to take apart now. I guess they really don't expect people to repair stuff anymore.

Speaking of vaccuum cleaners, I really don't miss the old disposable bags! I much prefer these fance new bagless units, even though the release door mechanism on my Dyson failed and I had to do some strategic plastic repair....

With long haired women in the house, I wish there was an easier way to clean the beater brush on a vacuum. That is a dirty, irritating job to do on both our Bosch and our Dyson.

As pervasive as the "design for minimum cost" requirement is, making something serviceable (or not requiring service) need not cost more, any more than making something beautiful is necessarily more expensive. But it does require a commitment from all involved in a design, including marketing and the bean counters, that the product be an actual value to the user, and not just to the stockholders. Ideally, you want something that the customers will WANT to buy again, not something they'll HAVE to buy again. In such a way, the company will build a reputation that will carry it through the long haul (if anyone actually cares about that anymore!).

Designing an appliance that is servicable does cost more. A screw is more expensive than a plastic snap-fitting, but the snap-fir will break the first time you try to open it.

It is virtually impossible to design an appliance lo last a lifetime (whose life? the products'? the cats'? your mother-in-laws' lifetime?) so you have to design for a specific life, usually measured in hours. A vacuum cleaner might not need to work more than 150 hours a yesr, unlike an air-conditioner, for example. Most people would be happy with a vacuum cleaner that lasted 1500 hours. No one is rewarded for over-engineering a product.

While you are quite right that designing something to "last a lifetime" is a fool's errand, making something serviceable is not. If snap fit tabs break off, then they shouldn't be used to access a part that needs service (and in this case, I'm referring to the original poster's need to service a filter).

I recently had to completely recondition a vacant house which a bad tenant had left in a disgraceful mess.Left behind were 3 very low-cost vacuum cleaners in a shambles in the garage.All were stuffed to the max with cat hair and debris to the point of non-functionality.However, each of them were relatively easy to take apart, empty, and get back to working order.Coincidentally, each of these three different low-cost brands all had the same rectangular felt-filter as described in this article; and all 3 were packed solid with blocking debris.But just a quick rinse and now I have 3 working (albeit cheapies) vacuum cleaners to give to my kids for their apartments.

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